The Catahoula Lake Vegetation Monitoring Project is a cooperative effort between the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Ducks Unlimited, Inc. to provide information about the health of the ecosystem to facilitate best management practices with the limited funds available. Primary funding for this project is through DU's MARSH (Matching Aid to Restore States' Habitat) program. Mr. Hugh Bateman DU's Director of Conservation Programs for Louisiana authorized this use of DU funds to support improved management of this extremely important haven for migratory birds.

Methods
There are three different facets to this project;
1) Map the vegetation types as accurately as possible as they existed in October 2004.
2) Map the densities of encroaching woody vegetation on the lake.
3) Evaluate change in vegetation on Catahoula Lake from 1987-2003.

Three different satellite sensors are being used on this project. Each has a specific role and function. The vegetation map will be created using the new SPOT 5 10m multispectral data.

SPOT 5 10-03-2004

The woody density maps will be created from hyperspatial data available from Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite.

Ikonos 1 meter Pan 09-17-2004

The change over time maps will use the tried and true USGS Landsat series.